LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – There is no chance the recommendations that I make in this column will be adopted by the NCAA. None.
Coaches would scream. Fans would kick. The television networks would hold their breath. The college football culture would throw the fit of fits.
I realize that. I also know that when NCAA president Dr. Mark Emmert announced the spectacular Penn State penalty package Monday that Emmert talked about changing the culture of major-college sports and injecting values and perspective into the process.
Hammering Penn State won't change the perspective, no matter how justified a strong penalty was. Hammering Penn State was the safe public relations play. Nobody can – or should – defend a convicted pedophile who was allegedly protected for years by one of the most admired programs in college football.
Penn State will suffer.
College football will not change.
Not because of the Penn State penalties. Salaries will continue to jump as if a recession never happened. Stadiums, practice fields, indoor facilities and weight rooms will still be upgraded on a regular basis to ensure they are better than the guy next door.
The networks will find ways to put more games on television for as many nights as the market will support. The elite programs will continue to separate themselves from other contenders in as many ways as possible.
The four-team playoff about to be pitched will generate more money than any American sporting event not called the Super Bowl.
So despite what Emmert said, this wasn't about perspective or changing the culture of college sports. It was punishing a school that had no support outside central Pennsylvania.
If this were about more than punishing one school, Emmert, the NCAA and member schools would be working on substantive changes that would affect more than Penn State and the teams on the Nittany Lions' schedule.
Change the culture? You have to think bigger. Here is my starter list. Perhaps you have one, too. If you do, please share. Let's get started.
Reduce Scholarships to 70: Penn State will soon be competing with 65 scholarship players. Although the NFL expanded its off-season roster to 90 players, there is a limit of 53 guys during the season – and only 46 active players on game day.
Why do college football teams need 85 scholarship players?
Even if you go three deep at every position and sprinkle in special teams guys, 70 should work – and make it more difficult for traditional powers to stockpile players, creating more parity. Imagine.
No Athletic Dorms: It seems as if the surest way to integrate athletes into the college culture is to encourage them to live in the actual student population.
Athletic dorms are another way of keeping score, creating a recruiting advantage and reminding athletes they live in a different world. And they do live in a different world in today's culture.
But if the NCAA is serious about dialing down expectations in that world, they can start by encouraging athletes to exist in the mainstream of college life.
Cap Coaching Salaries: If you read the business news, you know that times have been tight for about four years. If you read the sports news, you know the party has never even paused.
According to a story in USA Today last fall, head coaching salaries in the FBS division of college football increased by 55 percent over the last six seasons to an average of $1.47 million.
Assistant coaching salaries increased 11 percent last season. Six groups of assistant coaches, five in the Southeastern Conference, earned more than $3 million last season.
I'm not sure where to place the salary cap, but I know we've already exceeded it.
Limit Games to Thursdays and Saturday: Saturday is the best day for college football. It used to be the only day for college football. Thursday night games can be an occasional treat for schools -- with a cap of one Thursday appearances per school.
Friday is best left for high Schools. Sunday-through-Wednesday is a perfect stretch to allow players to develop an academic routine.
Universities need to be in charge of their schedules and the time athletes, make that student-athletes, spend away from class. Not ESPN.
Eliminate Year-Round Practice: College football practice doesn't start next week. College football practice shifts from unofficial practice to official practice next week.
Players have been conditioning since June. Or earlier. If you created an over/under on how many weeks off players are given per year at eight weeks, I'd absolutely take the under.
That's not the way it used to be. Players could go home during the summer. Now they work as relentlessly as the guys in the NFL.
That's my perspective for bringing more perspective to major-college football.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
NCAA president Mark Emmert will have to do more -- much more -- to change the culture of major-college football.
